Leopard Gekko not eaten for months

[craigy_uk]

Hey there.

I have had my female gekko since she was a couple months old, had her for 2 years now. She would eat every one or two days, locusts, wax worms or meal worms.. she went off of locusts but I didn't mind, she kept up with meal worms mostly. Since November or so she hasn't eaten, she almost always sits in her hide too. To me she looks fine, she's not skinny, shes still got a nice chunky tail, she isn't lethargic.. I can take her out and she moves around just fine, she's not skittish or afraid, I can't see anything physically wrong with her, her vents aren't clogged, no scabbing, she has all of her toes etc. She just doesn't eat. I give her water every few days, I was worried she wasn't drinking either but I caught her drinking the other day so that was a relief. I have always thought of her as being a homebody and lazy.. so I would bring her food to the front of her hide to feed her once per day, which she took.. but now she doesn't eat anything. If I put locusts, mealworms, wax worms or anything in there then they just die off untouched. My friend said she could have been in brumation, or the heating of the tank wasn't good but it is all fine.. I have a heat bulb and uvb light on timer switches. I hold her in a warm soak for 10-15 mins so she doesn't get stressed out but I can tell she doesn't like enjoy being wet, she just tries to escape and so I hold her loosely in the water - I think I calm her. If I take her out of her viv she will explore, want to climb on me and sit on my shoulder mostly.. but she does seem curious and wanders around before that. She has a wet hide of moss that I spray - only seen her in it once but I think she explores mostly at night.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ways to find out what may be an issue? I read online it's ok if they don't eat for a week or two but it really has been many months.

The photos are of her now - I removed the shed on her toes after I took the photos, don't worry! View attachment DSC_0645.JPG View attachment DSC_0644.JPG

 

[Josh]

Hello and welcome! Might be time to start tracking her weight. Hard to believe she's staying that chunky and not eating ANYTHING

 

[craigy_uk]

Thank you!

Yeah I know, she doesn't seem any smaller to me.. I would think she'd be lethargic or something but nope. And she's not eating anything.. I'll put worms in, she won't be at all interested, walk off, and I take them out again so they don't hide and turn to beetles. I have always hand fed her.. but I left some locusts in there, counted them as I put them in and I watched them wander around for days, then removed their dead bodies.. she isn't eating.. but she is drinking for sure. I will get some little scales to keep track of weight.

 

[craigy_uk]

Meanwhile, does anyone think there is something wrong? Or is it normal? Any feedback would be appreciated as I'm still worried and stumped.

 

[acpart]

This is frustrating but I do think it's within the norm. The record for not eating with my geckos was held by Oskar, a male Mack super snow who would frequently not eat from November to May. He would also get a respiratory infection most winters, go to the vet and get antibiotics. In the summer he'd weigh in at about 90 grams and would usually drop 20 grams over the winter. I had him for 11 years until he died (not during the winter and not from anything in particular that I could determine. I do have a crypto positive gecko collection but he hadn't shown any signs of wasting).

Currently I have a nearly 4 year old female gecko who is as chunky as yours is. Last summer I noticed that she wasn't eating (ovulation often causes female geckos to stop eating). She ate all winter but about a month ago she stopped again. Sure enough, when I checked, she was ovulating. She hasn't eaten since then, even though I offer at every feeding.

In my opinion, as long as the gecko isn't visually losing weight or showing some major behavior changes, all we can do is keep offering and be patient.

Aliza

 

[Sasha2]

I have one female who does this every year. She eats like a pig for months then stops and wont eat for several months. I keep her weighed and she never loses a single gram..She is also my biggest fattest gecko and wont eat anything but super or meal worms..If it has antennae she will close her eyes and turn away so no crickets or dubia for her.